Human Traffic

Human Traffic has plenty of energy, even if only to beat off the inevitable comparison with Trainspotting – the same fate to greet all British films about youth culture these days. The five protagonists may well subject their brain cells to a lot of abuse in the weekend, but this does not result in violence and death. The début of Justin Kerrigan (only 25 and Welsh) is about the local club culture (in Cardiff, on this occasion). The five young ravers are introduced with a dose of visual ingenuity that would normally be enough to fill a whole film. The group of friends Jip, Coop, Nina, Lulu and Moff live for the weekend. Their life is filled with finding enough money and the right music and is structured by cell phones, clubs (and how to get into them), chemicals (and how to get the greatest effect from them at once and as little as possible the next day) and all the other things that are apparently essential in modern life. Do not expect to see a raised finger in Human Traffic. The characters know all too well that their lifestyle is not without risks, but the film is about style and not drama. Kerrigan prefers a flashy cut brimming with short flashbacks and alternative versions of the story, dream effects, strange camera angles and some of the nicest monologues and dialogues of the year. The rave generation has its feature film.